Greetings, runners! FLRC’s spring racing season has kicked in with the Women’s Distance Festival and Thom B. Trail Runs, and 150 local runners have logged nearly 5,000 miles in the FLRC Challenge so far. We also have a full slate of races coming up, with the Twilight 5K on June 8th, Tortoise & Hare on June 18th, and our first outdoor track meet on June 28th. And don’t miss our group runs in between!
UPCOMING RACES
Twilight 5K coming up on June 8th at new Allan H. Treman Marina location
Come enjoy an evening 5K on the scenic shore of Cayuga Lake at race director Mickie Sanders-Jauquet’s Twilight 5K race on June 8th. Twilight also benefits local chapters of the national Girls on the Run empowerment program. This year brings a new course on the mostly paved trails around Cass Park and the Treman Marina. Whether you run or walk, you’ll finish well before dark because it’s one of the longest days of the year. With a flat, fast course, relatively few road crossings, and chip timing, it’s a perfect first 5K for all ages and abilities. Plan to stick around for the party atmosphere and pizza for all afterward! (We still need volunteers—please check out the volunteer sheet or email volunteer coordinator Liz Hartman to sign up or learn more.)
Tortoise & Hare returns to Buttermilk Falls State Park on June 18th
Our closest trail race to Ithaca, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet’s Tortoise & Hare is a great introduction to both trail running and local trails, while Buttermilk Falls provides a spectacular scenic backdrop. Start with a flat loop around a meadow, then exercise your uphill legs in the early miles; toward the end you’ll test your mettle on a speedy downhill to the finish. The course runs 6.7 miles up, around, and down Buttermilk Falls State Park. Registration is now open for this June 18th race, and be sure to thank Mickie for devoting her June to directing two races. We also encourage you to carpool to make the race more inclusive for those without cars, help fight climate change, and save on the parking fees—sign up to drive or ride.
All-comers outdoor track meets move to Ithaca High School on June 28th
Track is back! This summer we’ll be hosting our June, July, and August meets on Ithaca High School’s newly renovated track. On the evening of June 28th, join us and race director Adam Engst for a family-friendly all-comers meet with four events: the 100m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m—registration will open soon. All ages (seriously!) and abilities (really!) are welcome in these low-key meets, and when you’re not running, you can enjoy watching some of the area’s fastest runners test their speed on the oval. Join the fun, and for those running the FLRC Challenge, you can submit your 1600m time for the Sweet 1600 course.
Pencil other FLRC races onto your summer running calendar
While you’re planning your summer vacation and other activities, remember that FLRC has a full slate of trail, road, and track races coming up. July brings the Finger Lakes 50s (sold out, but we need volunteers for this nationally recognized race) on July 2nd, the Fillmore 5K on July 16th, another all-comers track meet on July 19th, and the Forest Frolic trail race on July 30th. In August, enjoy the Forge the Gorgeous trail race on the evening of Thursday, August 11th, our final all-comers track meet of the summer on August 16th, and the Monster Marathon and Half Marathon—on trails at Treman State Park—on August 27th. As summer fades into fall, enjoy the Ithaca 5&10 on September 11th and Danby Down & Dirty a week earlier than usual on September 24th.
RACE RESULTS
FLRC Challenge and Ultra Challenge completions flowing in
Nearly 150 local runners have already signed up for the 2022 FLRC Challenge, which encourages you to run or hike ten scenic courses around the area as many times as you like, competing for time, age grade, distance, and number of efforts, plus our new-in-2022 community star posts that have been eliciting amusing stories, lovely photos, and even rap poetry (plus limericks). Thirteen runners have already claimed their finisher’s medal, and of them, Paul Maza, Jami Landry, and Damian Clemons will also be receiving a custom FLRC Challenge course sign to commemorate having completed the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge (all ten courses in 24 hours!). You can sign up anytime before the FLRC Challenge ends on August 14th, and the award ceremony will take place at FLRC’s annual picnic on August 25th.
Women’s Distance Festival 5K brings 83 runners to Dryden Lake Park
Kudos to race directors Chris Irving and Lorrie Tily for making the 2022 Women’s Distance Festival 5K a success. The race took place on Mother’s Day, bringing together 83 women and girls to run or walk a 5K on the scenic Jim Schug Trail in Dryden. The overall win went to 56-year-old Caitlin Loehr, who ran a speedy 21:24 to outpace the field. Second-place finisher Julie Barclay came through in 22:06 to win the master’s (40+) award, and Michelle Dardia ran 27:45 to claim the veteran’s (60+) award. WDF truly is a race for all ages, with 5-year-old Olivia Bordoni and 75-year-old Katherine Merriman bracketing the range. Congrats to all the finishers! Full results are available, and don’t miss photographer Jamie Love’s wonderful race photos of runners, volunteers, and their families enjoying the event in the spring sunshine.
120 runners enjoy Hammond Hill trails during the Thom B. Trail Runs
Thanks to the efforts of race directors Joel Cisne and Gary McCheyne, 120 runners enjoyed three distances in the Thom B. Trail Runs. In the single-loop 8.5-mile race, Kris Norberg led the men in 1:03:29, and Helen Wang was the first woman in 1:08:11, both winning by about 2 minutes. In the two-loop 17-mile race, James King ran away from the men’s field, posting a 2:21:15 to win by over 16 minutes, while Tara Travis snuck past Molly McGuckin by 40 seconds to win in 2:46:01. The triple-loop-plus marathon race saw Carson Albanese win handily in 3:47:30, and second place overall went to the first woman, Amelia Kaufman, who outkicked Aaron King by 2 seconds to finish in 4:11:02. Check out photographer Steve Gallow’s fabulous race photos throughout the morning! Full results are available, and remember, Thom B. was the second race in the 2022 FLRC Trail Circuit, so you can check the standings on our new Trail Circuit leaderboard. Special thanks to Dave Kania, who bailed out the race with gear transport assistance after our U-Haul van reservation fell through at the last minute. Finally, please support the FLRC-supported Friends of Hammond Hill, who are raising funds for trail repair at Hammond Hill!
FLRC RUNNER NEWS
Local runners place well in USATF National Masters 1-Mile Championship
Congratulations to local runners Scott Weeks, Sandy Gregorich, Casey Carlstrom, and Jim Miner, who raced in the USATF National Masters 1-Mile Championship at the Rochester Mile on May 21st. Scott ran 4:45 to take 5th overall and 1st for the men’s 50–54 age group, Sandy’s 6:45 was good for 6th in the women’s 55–59 age group, Casey took 12th in the men’s 60–64 age group with a 5:51, and Jim placed 19th in the 70–74 age group with an 8:05. Lots of other upstate New York running friends and frequent PGXC and Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile competitors participated as well, including High Noon XC team member Jordan Varano from Binghamton (5:01 at age 43), former Ithacan Spider Rossiter (6:50 at 70), and Syracuse’s Joe Mora, who won the men’s 60-64 age group with a 5:05.
Ithacans in the Brooklyn Half Marathon
Although perennial local favorite Chelsea Benson was waylaid by a case of COVID, a number of other local runners made the trip down to New York City for the massive Brooklyn Half Marathon. They were led by Nicholas Holowka, who ran 1:18:30 for 152nd place, and Courtney Martin in 1:22:25 for 320th place. Other finishers include Simon Moll, Andy Pearson, Scarlett Lee, Nitipat Klunbida, Daniel Pfeffer, and Devin Martin. Congratulations to all!
CLUB NEWS
FLRC bylaws revision passes unanimously
Thanks to the 69 FLRC members who participated in our recent bylaws vote. The vote was unanimous, so future actions of the club will be governed by the new bylaws. If you’re interested in becoming involved with club governance, remember that our board meetings are always open to the public; look for details in our Announcements forum.
Import or print your FLRC calendars today
When are your favorite FLRC races and other events taking place this year? Don’t guess—our dates do move around sometimes, like our Saturday group runs in June. You can view the FLRC race calendar in three ways, so pick whichever works best for you.
- Subscribe to our Google Calendar so race dates, group runs, and other FLRC events (like the Annual Picnic) flow into your computer and phone calendar. Download and import this ICS file for most calendar apps; subscribe to fingerlakesrunners@gmail.com if you use Google Calendar.
- Check the home page calendar on the FLRC website, which lists all FLRC events alongside other races in the area. Anyone can submit a local race to our home page calendar.
- Download a PDF of our attractive print calendar, suitable for posting on a refrigerator or bulletin board near you! Speaking of which, could you do us a favor? If you know of any bulletin boards in the buildings or businesses you frequent, could you print a copy out and post it?
Group runs switch to 2nd & 4th Saturdays in June and July, some Sundays, and some Thursdays
Whether you’re training for summer races, looking for FLRC Challenge company, or entirely new to running, FLRC group runs offer low-key companionship. We have several options in the coming months:
- Saturday mornings: Heather Cobb manages our Saturday morning group runs, with various courses around the area. In June and July, to fit her schedule and avoid races, the Saturday group runs are switching to the 2nd and 4th Saturdays.
- Sunday mornings: FLRC Challenge director Adam Engst is coordinating occasional Sunday group runs on FLRC Challenge courses; check the forum for details.
- Thursday evenings: Mickie Sanders-Jauquet coordinates all-comers group runs on one Thursday night each month, followed by drinks and dinner afterward.
Check the Group Runs & Workouts forum for details on these and other group runs, and remember to sign the 2022 waiver the first time you attend an FLRC group run.
FLRC Forum FAQ #8: How do I reply to a post or start a new topic?
Everyone is welcome to post, either as a reply to an existing post or by starting a new topic. How you do that varies:
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Reply via the Web: Under every post is a gray Reply button. Click it to reply directly to that post (which has the side effect of notifying the person you’re replying to). If you want to reply to the topic in general, click the big blue Reply button below all the posts.
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Start a new topic via the Web: To start a new topic, first navigate to the forum in which you want your post to appear, which is most easily done by clicking its colored box in a topic list. Then click the New Topic button in the upper right. (You can also click the New Topic button on the main page, but then you’ll have to choose a category before you can type your message.) Make sure to give your message a descriptive title!
- Reply via email: If you want to reply to a post you received in email, you can do that just as you would any other email message. The system will try to strip out extraneous text—like the original message and your email signature—since such things clutter the conversation. Remember that email replies will go to the forum for everyone to see, not just to the poster!
- Start a new topic via email: To do this, you need to find the submission address. It’s listed in the first pinned post at the top of each forum. For instance, to start a new topic in the General forum, address your email to general@forum.fingerlakesrunners.org. Make sure to give your message a descriptive Subject line.
We ask that you keep posts relevant to running and the local running community and that you be kind, considerate, and supportive of your fellow runners here. For more information, see the Forum Guidelines.
Note that the Discourse system has some safeguards to protect against spammers, so it might complain at you or send your post to our moderators if it’s too short, has too many links, was typed suspiciously quickly, or in some other way resembles the tricks used by spammers. Any errors should be explained, and if your post was held for the moderators, they’ll usually get to it within a day.
That’s it for now, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at group runs in June, along with our Twilight, Tortoise, and track races!
—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track